William e



(NoModeLf W. E. SPARKS.

. REVERSIBLE LATCH.

No. 334,815. Patented Jan. 26, 1886.

UNITED STATES lATFNT tries.

\VILLIAM E. SPARKS, OF NEWV HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO SARGENT 8t 00., OF SAME PLACE.

REVERSIBLE LATCH.

:SPECIFICAI'ION forming part of Letters Patent No. 334,815, dated January 26, 18 86.

(No model.)

0 (LZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM E. SPARKS, of New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement in Reversible Latches; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the case that its nose end may be reversed, to adapt the latch to a right or left hand door, and is an improvement upon my invention for which Letters Patent No. 312,917 were granted me.

A represents the case; B, the hub, which is rotated by the knobs in the usual manner; 0, a slide upon which the arms of the hub respectively operate, according as the knob is turned in one direction or the other. On the slide is a fulcrum, a, and a bearing, 12, above it. On this bearing and over the fulcrum a lever, D, is arranged, with a spring, E, engaged with the lever between the fulcrum a and the bearing 11, which applies the power of the spring to draw the slide forward, and so that under the action of the knob the lever moves with the slide as ifa part of'it. The lever extends downward below the fulcrum in the form of an arm, F, the arm F engaging with the spindle G of the latch-bolt H. To reverse the latch, it is only necessary to take hold of its nose and draw it outward. The lever will turn over its fulcrum in such operation, and until the nose is so far drawn from the face-plate of the latch as to permit it to be reversed, then the spring reacts and returns the bolt into the case.

The look, as thus far described, is substam tially that of my previous invention. When the latch is upon the door, the bolt may be withdrawn the same as when off from the door.

From this fact there is liability to disturbance in the working of the latch, from the fact that children or evil-disposed persons may withdraw the latch-bolt so far as to enable it to be turned and throw it out of its proper working condition.

To obviate this difficulty and prevent the bolt from being turned except when the case is off from the door and in a certain position is the object of my invention; and it consists in a stop hung in the case, so as to fall into engagement with the latch-bolt or some of its connecting mechanism when the case is in its upright position, and thereby prevent the latch-bolt from being withdrawn, but so that when the latch-case is inverted the stop will fall from such engagement and permit the withdrawal of the bolt, as more fully hereinafter described.

In the best construction the stop is in the form of a dog, I, hung upon the slide near its outer end upon a pivot, d, and so as to swing freely thereon in a vertical plane and by its own gravity turn on the said pivot. The nose e is arranged to fall forward of a shoulder, f, on the latch-bolt, as seen in Fig. 1, and there stand when the case is in its upright position, as seen in that Fig. 1. This dog engages the bolt with the slide, so that so long as the stop stands in that position the latchbolt cannot be withdrawn; but when the case is inverted, as seen in Fig. 2, then the dog falls by its own gravity from its position of engagement with the latch-bolt, and leaves the bolt free to be withdrawn for reversal or other purposes. When, therefore, the latch is upon the door, the dog is in positive engagement with the bolt, and so that it cannot be disengaged, it being entirely within the case.

The dog or stop may engage the lever D in stead of the bolt directly-say as indicated in broken lines, Fig. 1, where the lever is constructed with a projection, h, extending toward the stop,-and from which it will be disengaged when the latch is inverted.

I am aware that a latch-bolt has been arranged in its case so as to be partially withdrawn from the case for the purpose of reversing, and then returned, and having combined therewith a spring-dog to engage the bolt when so returned; but in such construction itis me essary to remove the plate of the case, or introduce some implement through the case to turn the dog from its engaged position before the bolt can be withdrawn. I therefore do not broadly claim such a dog or stop, the essential feature of my invention being a stop or dog operated solely by gravity, and whereby by holding the case inverted the dog will of its own gravity fall out of its engagment with the bolt, and return thereto by its own gravity when the case is set upright.

I claim 1. In a knob-latch, the combination of the hub B, the slide 0, the lever D, hung upon said slide, latch-bolt H, with which said lever engages. and a spring, Epv'ith the dog I, hung Within the case so as to swing free by its own gravity in a vertical plane, and adapted to engage the latoh-bolt when in an upright position or be released therefrom by its own gravity when the case is inverted, substantially as described.

2. The combination of the hub B, the slide 0, the lever D, hung upon said slide, the spring E, the latch bolt engaged with said lever, and

a dog, I, hung to said slide so as to swingfreely by its own gravity in a vertical plane, and adapted to engage the bolt when the case is in an uprightposition or turn therefrom by its own gravity when the case is inverted, substantially as and for the purpose described.

WILLIAM E. SPARKS. XV i t nesses Wu. S. COOKE, CHAS. L. BALDWIN. 

